


Thieves on a Train

by BabylonsFall



Category: Leverage
Genre: Background Case, F/M, Fluff, Minor Violence, Multi, Post-Canon, Reunions, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28413504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabylonsFall/pseuds/BabylonsFall
Summary: It wassupposedto be a vacation. Nate and Sophie were not supposed to be here. And they were certainly not supposed to be helping Sterling.
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer, Sophie Devereaux/Nathan Ford
Comments: 12
Kudos: 69
Collections: 2020 Leverage Secret Santa Exchange





	Thieves on a Train

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Radiolaria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radiolaria/gifts).



> Happy Holidays!

In Hardison's defense, they were not supposed to be here. None of them. Hardison, Parker, and Eliot almost never made it outside of the states after their run in with Moreau. It was a big deal when they did! And even when they did, they didn't tend to stick around after jobs, regardless of where they were. They were all way too comfortable in the little slice of home they’d carved out in Portland, and didn’t like to stray too far, too long. (It was weird for all of them, and they weren’t talking about it.)

But. They'd been on the wrong end of the burn out timer after this job, and...well. It had seemed like a good idea. It wasn't that the jobs had been harder lately, or anything like that - there had just been too many of them. And they were only just now on the tail end of figuring out how to run their merry band of misfits with three instead of five and…

Regardless. It had seemed like a good idea after they'd tied up loose ends in Venice. None of them had ever done it before - unless you count Eliot's weird LARPing of Mission Impossible, which, Hardison didn't - and. Well. It sounded like fun.

So, after cajoling and convincing and possibly at one point threatening (Eliot, with a good time), Hardison had bought them tickets for the first express train tour that sounded interesting. A five day trip, up to Vienna, and back around to Paris - short enough for neither him nor Parker to get bored, and long enough for Eliot to actually have a chance at relaxing. It was perfect.

And then. And _then._ On the second day, when they'd made their way out to lunch - and Parker had been practically vibrating with excited energy at the view and all the little details on the train and the people watching, and that semi-permanent knot between Eliot's shoulders had finally started to melt away - and Hardison had seen it. Just out of the corner of his eyes.

Curly brown hair flipped nonchalantly, but oh so distinctively, over a shoulder. Sharp brown eyes flitting over him in a quick sweep only to pause, and come back slowly to meet his. And now that he was looking, he could see the top of what had to be the newest in the man’s collection of insufferable headwear - though, Hardison would give him, the navy was a nice color.

“Uh. Guys?” And Parker looks over at him curiously, bright eyes still sparkling with delight, before he sees her, out of the corner of his eyes, follow where he’s looking.

She’s squealing and barreling down the narrow walkway the next moment, and he can physically _feel_ Eliot’s inaudible groan behind him. But when the man skirts around him to follow Parker, Hardison can see the small smiles he’s failing to hide, and he can feel his own growing as he follows after.

The booths are definitely not designed for five people, but they make it work anyway.

It makes Hardison feel a little better that Sophie and Nate look just as surprised to see them as they do.

Sure, they called every other week - sometimes more, sometimes less - to check in, them on Sophie and Nate’s ‘retirement’, and Nate and Sophie on how they were coming along as a smaller crew. But, this was the first time they were seeing each other outside of a computer screen since they’d had their dramatic send off/proposal at the pub. They hadn’t even set a date for the actual _wedding_ yet, which was kind of when they were all sure they were going to see each other next.

That aside though, lunch was fun. Catching up, falling back into old bickering and joking as if not a week had passed them by. There were new stories of course, on both sides. Nate and Sophie had been travelling around Europe, checking in on places they’d chased each other before as well as making new memories where only aliases had once crossed, and the three of them had been slowly but surely building up their reputation with some international groups - making good on their promise to take Leverage international. It was a slow process, but as they filled Nate and Sophie in, it didn’t feel like it in the retelling of all their progress.

Eventually though, as things were winding down, the question of what the hell they were all doing here had to come up.

“We were in Vienna - a bank with a system old enough to actually be quicker to break into than to hack into. And, well, we hadn’t had a break in awhile, figured this would be an easy sell for this one,” Hardison said, hooking his thumb at Eliot - only to snap his hand back just as quickly as Eliot made a grab for his hand. He knew better by now than to just leave delicate appendages in Eliot’s reach. Nevermind that he was sitting nearly pressed against the man’s side, and his other arm - the one not currently trying to grab Hardison - was stretched out behind him on top of the booth.

Parker just snorted at them.

“And we were...well.” Sophie paused, taking a moment to glance around the car, “Well. Sterling reached out.”

And that had the three of them pausing. Sure, there was an unspoken truce of sorts going on between them and Sterling at the moment - they stayed out of his way, he left the brewpub alone - but they still didn’t particularly _like_ the man.

“That was our reaction as well,” Sophie continued. “But, apparently, there’s been a rising star in the ranks and something didn’t sit right with him - I know, I know, the man trusts no one, but _still_ it was weird. So, we said we’d look into it. No promises or anything - like we’d promise that man anything, anyway, don’t give me that look Eliot. And, well…” she trailed off, looking to Nate.

“Turns out he was right, he just couldn’t prove it. Not that he’d _tell_ us that, of course not. Anyway, man’s current name is Erik Seighty. But about eight years ago, he was going by Victor Kroy.” Nate carried on, raising an eyebrow at the name, just as Hardison did.

“Kroy? As in Annie Kroy?”

Sophie looked annoyed, huffing softly, “Man was a nuisance. But one with a particularly convenient skill. Never been caught on camera - or, at least, never been caught on camera in a way that could be connected with a name. He’s been operating almost as long as I have, just...sticking to the underbelly of the grifting world. He never went after art or money or or…” She threw up her hands, “The man’s as caught up in his ego as that one guy, The Sunfish?”

“The Pufferfish?” Hardison quipped, just to get a smile out of her. Successfully, he might add.

“Yes, that one. He never...went after anything _decent_. He was so caught up in just never getting _caught_ , building these elaborate schemes that were all about fooling bigger and bigger marks, but never actually taking anything _._ He was insufferable. But useful, occasionally.” Sophie frowned then, leaning on the table with her hands clasped in front of her, “There was always something off about him though. You remember Starke? He was insufferable, but at least he made sense. Victor - his real first name at least - never did. A little too into the...backstory for the Kroys, if you get my drift.”

Hardison grimaced. As far as he could tell, Annie Kroy was one of Sophie’s bloodiest aliases - and he had to give Sophie credit for that, if only because she’d managed it without actually shedding any blood. But you had to dig in deep to figure that out. Really deep.

“So. Funny part of this story, Sterling didn’t even know that part. All he knows is Seighty’s a pain in his neck, and that he doesn’t trust the guy as far as he can have him thrown. There’s apparently something funky going on in the guy’s Interpol file if you know what to look for, but Sterling had no proof, so, he asked us to check it out.”

“Without knowing he’d know Sophie’s face from a mile away.” Hardison finished, which Sophie confirmed with a helpless ‘yeah, that’s it’ hand motion.

“He at least tell you why Seighty would be on this train?” Parker pipes up, after a long moment of quiet where everyone was trying to figure out where to go next.

“No - that was another thing tripping Sterling’s radar apparently. And we haven’t been able to figure out how to get close enough to him yet. Because if he knows my face, there’s at least half a chance he knows Nate’s. Not even from us - just from his record. And if he does, we blow this thing before it even starts. And, look, I’m not that excited about helping Sterling out, but Seighty disappeared seven years ago. Just completely dropped off the map. Showing back up in Interpol? It’s just…”

“Weird,” Eliot supplied, already looking like he’s trying to figure out how to get them all off the train. Hardison knew the whole thing with the Kroys was tripping every single one of Eliot’s red flags. A quick shared look with Parker confirmed she saw it too.

“So, two options then,” Parker started, her tone shifting into planning mode far easier than it had even six months ago, and Hardison had to bite back a grin. “Either this is all a coincidence, and he actually changed and Sterling can deal with it.” Both Nate and Sophie’s faces showed just how likely they thought that option was, “ _Or_ he’s in the middle of another con with a much bigger stage and the chance to go spectacularly bad very quickly. We just gotta figure out which one it is.”

Hardison could feel Eliot deflating a little beside him. Parker had thrown them in, and that was it.

Sure, she wasn’t as...insistent as Nate had been. Both Hardison and Eliot had more than enough say in what they did as a team, but this...this was Nate and Sophie. Of course they were going to help. Parker was just the first one to voice it, and Hardison knew Eliot was just working through it. His protective instincts had taken a little while to mellow back down after Nate and Sophie left, and Hardison and Parker knew to just leave it be at times. Or to at least be subtle about pushing against it.

“And we have three days to figure it out, before he’s in the wind again, and squarely Sterling’s problem.” Nate added.

Okay. A timeline. They could work with that.

* * *

Despite the timeline, it seemed Seighty was content to spend the rest of the second day of the trip in his cabin. Parker and Sophie were watching the exit from the cabin car, eating dinner while the boys rearranged their cabins to accommodate a planning center. Or something. Sophie had waved them off with a huff halfway through Nate and Hardison’s planning, saying her and Parker would take first watch, and would let them know the second Seighty showed up.

Sophie’s back was to the door, as a minor precaution, allowing Parker to face it completely, but honestly, she wasn’t too worried - either about being seen, or about Seighty showing his face yet. The man she remembered was always...patient? Slow? One of the two. He took his time. Whatever he was doing in his cabin was just him sticking to pattern.

Which was fine with her. She wanted a chance to catch up with Parker. She hadn’t seen her in a year now, except on the other side of a screen, and that didn’t seem to do her any kind of justice.

When her and Nate had left, Parker had still just been...Parker. Lighter, of course, and more sure-footed than when they’d first met. It was what had made leaving that much easier - knowing Parker would be strong enough to guide the team through it’s next stage.

But, seeing her in person? Sophie had never been more sure of their choice to leave. The Parker before her was bright, and confident in a way that showed in her carriage and her ease in her seat. She was clearly fascinated with the people coming and going, but it lacked the... _intensity_ of even two years ago. That intensity born of confusion and curiosity that had made Parker a sparkling ball of energy that was just this side of too much.

Now, there was curiosity still. But instead of sparking and twisting to fit into a space not meant to fit her, while watching for the next hurdle, Parker watched the people coming and going with a surety of her place, and a consideration for the people she watched that spoke to an understanding. Maybe not one Sophie would ever quite be able to parse - Parker was still Parker - but it still made her smile that Parker was finally allowing herself to take up space, to _exist_ in a world she was picking apart and putting back together.

That, and, honestly, as much as she loved Nate and the boys? It was really nice to talk Parker alone again.

“You look good,” Sophie murmured into the natural lull that had fallen between them as they sipped coffee so strong it settled nicely into Sophie’s very bones. “I knew you did, of course. But, it’s nice to see in person.”

Parker grinned at her, crooked and bright, in that way that crinkled her nose and made her look her age.

“You do too. We miss you, you know.” Sophie raised an eyebrow. “Not enough to ask you to come back,” Parker added with a laugh, “But sometimes, the place feels quiet, without you and Nate, you know?”

And Sophie did know. She’d caught herself more than a couple times thinking about popping to the next room over in whatever hotel her and Nate had found in their tumble through Europe to ask the three of them about something, or even just to ask what they wanted to order for take-out. It had been...unsettling, honestly, the first time she’d realized she couldn’t do that anymore. Which, of course, was the first time she’d called them, and it had almost, almost, been like they were still there.

She wouldn’t give up the life Nate and her were building, just for them, for anything. But, sometimes, she was reminded just how small it had gotten in the immediate space.

“But things are going okay? I know you said they were, last call, but…” Sophie trailed off, trying to figure out how to suggest things might be happening without saying she was _worried_.

“Things are going great.” Parker said, smiling softly in that way Sophie’s not entirely sure she didn’t get from Nate - genuine, but practiced, the muscles not quite used to telling the truth so plainly. Then she paused, tilting her head as she worked through the next part.

Sophie stayed quiet, giving her time.

“We...need to find a balance, still, I think.” She admitted, almost sheepishly. “Between the jobs, and the recruiting, and the brew pub and us. I think we tried to push too hard too fast, at first. You know, prove we…” She sighed softly, “Prove I could do it. We’re getting there, now, but...I mean, we wouldn’t have needed this trip if I had it right, you know?”

And Sophie felt a little bad about that. They’d mentioned this was supposed to be a vacation, after a string of jobs left them all a little winded. And here her and Nate were, springing another job on them.

“You know what, there’s this lovely little villa, just outside of Marseille. After this, you and the boys should stop down there.” Sophie offered, and the look Parker shot her was both understanding and way too sharp. But it was also grateful, so Sophie just grinned into the warm silence between them.

They both people watched for a little while after that, content in the familiar quiet.

Sophie couldn’t help herself honestly.

“Speaking of the boys…” She trailed off, glancing at Parker out of the corner of her eyes with a sly grin. Parker just snorted a laugh at her, as inelegant as ever, and Sophie’s grin melted into a smile.

* * *

They got a working control center up and running pretty quickly, all things considered. Of course, in this case, ‘control center’ just meant clearing out a space in Nate and Sophie’s cabin to set up Hardison’s laptops in such a way that they weren’t in danger of being knocked over. He already had a program on one looking for everything on both Victor Kroy and Erik Seighty. He was using the other to dig through the train’s manifest to try and pinpoint a connection to Seighty and anyone else on the train. Or between Interpol and anyone on the train. Or a red flag on anyone on the train period.

As soon as Hardison was set up, Eliot had ducked out to do a more thorough sweep of the train than he’d done when they’d boarded, already shifting back into job mode so quickly it made Hardison ache. But, Hardison knew Eliot wouldn’t relax again again until he’d mapped the entire train out, all the exits, all the possible escapes, and all the choke points and hiding places, so he kept his mouth shut about it.

Nate stayed behind, supposedly to help brainstorm if Hardison managed to find a connection. But until Hardison did, he was kind of just staring out the window, lost in thought.

“Sorry.”

It takes Hardison a moment to both pick up on the muttered apology, and another to process it, before he’s blinking and looking up Nate. “What?”

“Sorry.” Nate mutters again, looking as pained at it sounds. “For ruining your vacation.”

Hardison frowns at him, taking a moment to think that over. He can’t help what comes out of his mouth next though, “You don’t apologize. Especially not for a little thing like this.” It wasn’t mean - it could’ve been, Hardison knows. Probably would’ve been, a couple years ago. But right now? He’s just pointing out a fact. Nate doesn’t apologize for the little stuff. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, Hardison knew now. It was just that Nate showed he cared in different ways. Like making sure things went right, so apologies weren’t needed in the first place.

And, honestly, he was still just a bit of that insufferable jerk that had convinced them all to that this was a good idea in the first place, so hey.

It may not have been mean, but Nate still...well, he didn’t flinch, because that was another thing Nate didn’t do, but the air between them shifted, and that caught the rest of Hardison’s attention. “Yeah, something I’m working on,” Nate admitted, gruffly. “And this isn’t a little thing,” he added after a moment.

“You’re doing us a favor, and it got in the way of your team.” He continued, when Hardison didn’t say anything.

“Hey, you and Sophie are still part of the team. Hell, pretty sure the only way you get out of that is by dying.” He paused, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t do that.”

Nate snorted, a small smile finally breaking his stony expression.

“Just ‘cause you’re not our fearless leader anymore doesn’t mean we wouldn’t drop everything if y’all asked, you know?”

“I know.” Nate said, nodding along with the agreement, “But…”

And Hardison got it.

“You’re welcome.” Hardison said, grinning brightly, and Nate just laughed, scrubbing his hand down his face and nodding gratefully.

* * *

“Okay, so, first off, we’re not talking about how you two aren’t using any of the aliases I made for you, which is just hurtful,” Hardison started, staring hard at Nate and Sophie, who both somehow looked both sheepish and unphased. It was impressive, really.

“Second, the only thing I can find is this woman,” he flipped his laptop around to show the group. On screen was a picture of a middle-aged woman, with curly black hair and warm brown skin. Soft brown eyes stared placidly at the camera. “Mazi Jones. Supposedly. She popped up about seven years ago, and apparently hasn’t bothered to fill in anything before that, or paid someone a lot of money to erase it, if that’s her real name. Best I can tell? She’s a thief who ran in the same circles as Seighty, but seems to have popped up only after he went off the radar. She’s on this train, not even bothering with an alias because no one appreciates those anymore,”

“I thought we weren’t talking about that,” Nate muttered, only to grumble when Sophie elbowed him.

“Now. Fun story. A Kit Clive - I know, Sophie, he seemed to have a really, really weird thing for you - was arrested seven years ago, in the process of trying to break into some fancy bank in Sweden. He never admitted which deposit box he was looking for, but despite him being caught, eight were stolen that night. Supposedly, the contents of seven have since been recovered. Though, judging by the names on them? I highly doubt whatever was originally in those boxes is there now, what with all the police focus.” Hardison finished. He wasn’t joking about that either. There were several names on that list that had come up when they were looking at Moto.

“Well, that explains why he dropped off the map…” Sophie murmured.

“Is this seriously all about a spat between ex-partners?” Eliot grumbled.

“We’ve seen weaker excuses.” Parker offered.

“And, depending on what was in that eighth box, it might even be worth it.” Sophie tried, gently jostling Eliot, who just rolled his eyes.

“Okay, do we really want to try to get between two pissed off thieves settling an old dispute?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but...yes. If _only_ because it sounds like Seighty’s trying to use his position in Interpol to get his way. And we don’t know if he’ll stop with Jones, if he gets away with it - whatever it is he’s planning. This may not even be about the box. It may be about starting up the partnership again. Or... about removing the partner who knows his face.” Parker said, after a long moment.

It was quiet after that, as everyone slowly came to the same conclusion, shooting glances at Sophie.

“...Well. I guess that settles that then, doesn’t it?” Sophie asked with a weak smile that didn’t hold as she slouched back in her seat.

* * *

“Eliot, we don’t even know if he’s actually here to harm her, you know.” Sophie muttered over her morning cup of coffee. Eliot had followed her to breakfast the morning after their fun brainstorming discussion, leaving the others to iron out the beginning part of the plan. They still couldn’t do anything until Seighty actually left his cabin, but now they had cams trained on his door, courtesy of Hardison, so they were a little more free to roam.

No one else had been particularly interested in breakfast, but Sophie had taken one look at the mess her and Nate’s cabin was turning into and turned around. Eliot had been her shadow out, and didn’t seem intent on leaving anytime soon.

“Your point? You still need someone to watch your back until we get a beat on him. If only to make sure he doesn’t see you.” Eliot said, not bothering to look over. He had his own cup of coffee he was nursing, and he was doing an impressive job of pretending to read the newspaper in his other hand.

“So you’re not out here to make sure he doesn’t see me and change targets midway through?”

“Oh, no, I definitely am.” Eliot admitted easily. Sophie had the distinct impression she was being laughed at, but as his face stayed as placid as ever, she couldn’t call him on it.

Still, she huffed at him, fighting back a smile.

She’d missed them.

“So. How’s retirement?” Eliot asked, after a long couple of moments, glancing over at her over the rim of his glasses. Which, good to see he was actually wearing those again.

Sophie flipped her hand at him, “You know how it’s going. We talked, what, last tuesday?”

Eliot just raised an eyebrow at her.

“...Okay, okay, so, ‘retirement’ is a little strong.” Sophie caved, with absolutely no effort to not to. Eliot grinned at her. “Told you, Sterling reached out to us. Didn’t mention it was because we ran into him at a gala at the Gallerie dell'Accademia. Though, in our defense, we were actually just enjoying the night. He wasn’t though, strangely enough.”

“Can’t imagine why.” Eliot offered, sympathetically.

“Mm. We haven’t done a whole lot. But it is fun figuring out what we _could_ do. And it keeps us entertained. And if my collection at the villa grows every once in awhile…” She shrugged.

“Uh-huh. Manage to get any wedding planning in there? If you don’t soon, Hardison’s going to take over.” Eliot said, a little too calmly to be a joke.

Sophie flipped her hand. “We’ll get there. It’s kind of fun though, being engaged. No real plans, but a...certainty.”

Eliot hummed, flipping to the next page.

“Speaking of… how’re you and the lovebirds doing?” Sophie hedged. Not her most subtle, sure, but honestly, the situation had been pretty dire when she’d left, and Parker hadn’t given her anything the day before.

“Hm?” Eliot blinked at her, taking a moment to catch up with the switch, before he smiled. A small, soft thing that Sophie had only seen once. “Oh, we’re fine.”

Which, Sophie hadn’t been expecting that. At all. “Okay…” And Eliot’s grin turned cheeky, like he knew exactly how off-foot he’d just made her, turning back to his newspaper. If he could actually tell her one sentence on that damn thing, Sophie’d eat her hat.

“Nu-uh, that needs an explanation. ‘Fine’ as in you finally manned up and asked them out, ‘fine’ as in _they_ finally manned up and asked _you_ out or…” And Sophie could feel a rant coming on.

Eliot laughed at her - that small, self-depreciating thing that she couldn’t ever be made at - and she lost her head of steam.

“‘Fine’ as in, we’re taking it as it comes. A date here. A night over there. We’re not...not ‘together’, not yet. But we’re having fun, and going with it.” Eliot murmured, finally looking right at her, his eyes soft and his smile sweet. It made him look a good ten years younger, and all Sophie could do is smile in response, even if she didn’t quite get it yet.

“Why the wait?” She asked, curious, but no longer hellbent on fixing things.

“Why not?” Eliot answered, shrugging, finally putting that damn paper down. “We talked it over. We know...we know it’s a done deal. But that just means it’s set, you know?” He paused, frowning slightly in that way he had where it was mostly in his eyes. Sophie stayed quiet, letting him fill the space like he seemed to need to.

“But...well. I’ve never had the time. And Hardison and Parker have never...have never had anyone try.” He offers, after chewing over the words long enough that Sophie was sure he was going to give it up. “Yeah, Hardison went after Parker, but, you know how that went. He waited for her. Which, she needed, and I think he did too. But no one’s ever…” He paused, struggling for the right word.

“Courted them?” Sophie asked, intentionally picking the most dramatic word she could, with the biggest grin she could, if only to get that frown out of his eyes.

Eliot laughed again, nodding slightly even as he dragged a hand down his face, like he couldn’t believe it himself. “Sure. And, again, I haven’t had the time to really try in...well. Since Aimee. So...yeah.” He shrugged, almost helplessly.

And Sophie could almost get it now. But she still had to ask. “That still didn’t answer _why_.”

“Because it’s fun. No real plans, but a certainty.” Eliot shot back at her, grinning widely when she playfully glared at him and threw what was left of her bagel at his head. He caught it and went back to his paper without another word.

* * *

Seighty finally emerged after lunch. By then, they’d worked out a rough sketch of a plan. It wasn’t nearly as concrete as their usual stuff, but, honestly? Until they got a motive, they were more or less flying blind.

“He’s made no move to approach her.” Eliot murmured over the comms, and Hardison nodded, even though Eliot couldn’t see him, from where he was in the cabin.

“There’s nothing in his cabin suggesting this is Interpol business. There’s very little here at all actually. One bag with nondescript clothes and a couple passports with different names, some cash. But that’s it.” Sophie added.

“We knew that. And the ka-bar he’s not-hiding would suggest that even if we didn’t.”

“A knife? Really? He couldn’t just go for a gun?”

“Gun’s’re loud, and not nearly as useful in close quarters like this. A knife though? That can go out a window with no one the wiser, and there’s plenty of places to hide a body around here, at least for the few days he’d need to disappear.”

“Eliot, you know, I really missed those terrifying explanations of yours.” Sophie muttered, shaking her head. Hardison could see it over the cams still trained on Seighty’s cabin, and he grinned quietly to himself.

There’s quiet for a moment - Hardison piecing together the beginnings of a plan to throw at the group, Sophie and Nate making their way out of Seighty’s cabin, and Eliot…

“Hey, Hardison, you have y’all’s Interpol badges, right?”

“...Yes?”

“Awesome. You and Parker get down here. Need you to play a vacationing couple for a minute.”

“...How obviously?” Hardison asked, even as he was already packing up to get out there. Eliot didn’t often call adlibs like this, but, honestly, this whole thing was an adlib, and he was willing to roll with it. He caught a flash of blonde on the cameras to tell him Parker was going with it too.

“Whatever you did to get that magician fired.”

“Oh _that_ obviously. Can do. Give us…” a quick glance at the cameras again, “Two minutes.”

* * *

Eliot was kind of hoping it wouldn’t be this easy. If only because that would be...kind of pathetic.

He had to wait a couple minutes even after Hardison and Parker made their way down to the lounge car, if only because them being loud, obnoxious and ‘in love’ was a hilarious sight, and one he didn’t get to see often. It took him a couple minutes to school his face into what he needed, but once he was sure they’d caught Seighty’s attention, he made his way over, dropping down at the bar two seats down, politely but gruffly asking for a drink.

Seighty noticed him of course, and Eliot didn’t even have to glare that hard in Hardison and Parker’s direction before he could see the man connecting the dots between them.

Eliot didn’t react when Seighty subtly shifted to the stool next to him, pretending not to notice when he motioned for another round of drinks either.

“They been like this the whole trip?” He asked, sympathetically enough that Eliot had to at least give him credit - man could fake it.

“They’ve been like this the whole _year_ ,” Eliot responded, aiming for that pitch that was just between bitter and whining. Seemed he hit it when Seighty winced in response.

It’s quiet for a long moment, Seighty watching the spectacle with a calculating look Eliot was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to see. “Which one?” He asks, convincingly interested.

“Who do you think?” Eliot shot back, bitter as hell.

“Mm...she is a beauty.” Eliot wasn’t surprised Seighty chose Parker, not in the least. Men like him never had any kind of imagination. Eliot just nodded what he hoped passed for morosely, keeping his head ducked.

“So where does he fit in?” Seighty asked, the very picture of a concerned, sympathetic friend.

Eliot flipped his hand before grabbing for the second drink. “Boss. She took one look at him and passed me by. Three years man, I was _this_ close. Little brat shows up, grabs the girl, grabs the job, grabs...”

Hardison scoffed in his ear and Eliot had to bite back a grin, hard.

“Everything.” Seighty finished for him, bringing Eliot back to the moment. Another morose nod into his glass. “Why’d they invite you?”

“Didn’t. Business trip. Roundabout, because _they,_ ” he motioned back wildly with his hand, not actually looking that way, “wanted a vacation on the company’s dime. She’s not even supposed to be here.”

“...What do you guys do?” And it’s casual. Way too casual.

“Contracting. Rich guys with too much money, convinced someone’s determined to take it.”

“Security?”

Eliot nodded again, “You know, I got into the private sector, after my last deployment, because it was supposed to be easier?” He snorted. “More assholes yelling at me now than there ever was on base.”

And that got Seighty’s attention.

Good.

* * *

To Seighty’s credit, he didn’t jump at the bait immediately. He barely waited until after dinner that night though to track Eliot down on his way to his now single cabin.

The pitch was good. Seighty was apparently in a similar bind, just, it was this woman, you see? She’d taken his job, his credibility, hell, most of his money too. But, as she was his ex-wife, he couldn’t do anything about it. But, Eliot? Eliot could. And Seighty could take care of his problem for him, in return.

It was so blatantly a rip off of Strangers on a Train - which, to be fair, Eliot had been aiming for - that Eliot nearly laughed in his face.

Hardison didn’t bother biting it back, laughing in his ear, which was super helpful. Really.

However. They were professionals. Mostly. So Eliot didn’t laugh. He hesitated. He hemmed and hawed. Just like a normal, if slightly unhinged and desperate person might. When Seighty handed him the knife though, he convincingly steeled himself, and nodded.

“Don’t worry about your boy. He’ll be gone by tonight. Just don’t forget your part of the deal.”

Eliot just nodded, waiting until Seighty was gone. “...that was all recorded right?”

“Don’t insult me. Parker’s already set up, Nate and Sophie are watching bitterly from the sidelines,” Eliot could just hear the offended ‘hey’s in the background, “and I need to go get ready for my show.”

“Uh-huh. Just…” Eliot trailed off. It wasn’t that dangerous of a gig, he knew that. But some part of him still didn’t like that Parker was set to play the hero right now. Sure, Eliot would be just on the other side of the door, and if anything went wrong, he could be there in a second, if not less but-

“We’ll be careful, E. Now hurry up. I don’t think Seighty’s the patient sort.”

Eliot snorted, but smiled to himself, letting his shoulders relax, just a bit.

* * *

In the end, it was as pathetically easy as Hardison had thought it would be as soon as he’d caught on to what Eliot was pulling.

Seighty was indeed not a patient man. Or a smart one. Because a smart one would’ve made the unwitting partner do the deed first. But, no, Seighty, it seemed, wanted this over as quickly as possible.

Hardison was feigning sleep in Sophie and Nate’s cleared out cabin, and they’d made sure Seighty had seen Parker leave.

Not that that meant she was actually gone. How she’d made it out of the train and back through the window that quickly, Hardison would never know. It was, in a word, terrifying. But he’d learned not to really question years ago. At least, not out loud.

There was the quiet sound of the door clicking open, the soft swish as it pressed inward, hiding Parker quite nicely behind it, and then the muted shuffle of too-expensive loafers on carpet.

Hardison’s kind of sad he didn’t get to see Seighty’s face when the taser hit him in the back.

“Sterling says hi.” Parker says, grinning as she kneels over the stunned man, flipping out her ID, if only to give them a solid story for Sterling later. Him siccing internal affairs on the man makes a hell of a lot more sense on paper than ‘a gut feeling means I turned to criminals to solve my problems’.

When she clicked the taser again though, Hardison had to reach over to take it from her. “Really?”

“What? He tried to stab you.”

* * *

They met Sterling at an emergency stop off just outside of Stuttgart, handing over both a still very confused Seighty, and the recording of the planned murder, staying long enough for a convincingly rookie-agent Parker to give her statement. Sterling looked a little steamrolled, but he went with it just fine, even managing to get in there that it was all his idea - spinning that they definitely knew he was there to commit a murder, but they had needed to be sure on who and for what reason, or some other such bullshit. Because of course he did.

Hardison honestly had no idea how any of that flew, but, then, he’d seen Interpol’s internal reports. Some of them were quite impressive in their levels of bullshit, and not all of them came from Sterling even. Hardison also managed to drop a flash drive with everything he’d found on Victory Kroy into Sterling’s pocket without him noticing.

Nate and Sophie couldn’t quite stay out of the fun, but they were subtle about it at least, for them, waving to both Sterling and Seighty from the lounge car window. How they’d managed to convince Mazi it might be in her best interest to lay low for a little while and get back in time was beyond him.

Hardison did at least get to see Seighty’s face then. He even got a picture.

* * *

The rest of the trip was as peaceful as the whole thing was supposed to be, and, for that, Hardison was incredibly grateful. Not nearly as much, though, as when Sophie handed over a key to Parker when they got off in Paris, and told them to have fun in Marseille.

Eliot didn’t even argue, just hooked am arm around Hardison’s waist, leaning against his side in a way he only rarely let himself. Parker bounced over to press a kiss to both their cheeks a moment later, grinning so brightly Hardison couldn’t help but smile back as he felt Eliot practically melt into him.

Home could wait, just a little longer.

Before they left though, he had to ask. “I want wedding invites. In a month. Figure it out, or I will.”

“Ignore him,” Eliot said, reaching up to clap his free hand over Hardison’s mouth before he could respond to that, “Just keep having fun.”

Something passed between Eliot and Sophie that clearly went as over Nate and Parker’s heads as it did his. But, as Eliot apologized for shushing him with a kiss a moment later, he really, really couldn’t complain.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 💛


End file.
